Deep friendship and mutual respect is probably not the worst basis for a relationship

I think it's a great basis. I think they have so much going for them, really. Deep friendship and mutual respect, as you say, plus shared history and shared purpose and vision. Loyalty to each other; profound mutual admiration.

OTOH if what you're looking for is a sexual relationship - and, particularly if you're looking for a sexually exclusive relationship - gay man/straight woman is just not a good idea. (BTW, do you know the song the title of the story comes from? It always sounded to me like it was about a "mixed orientation" couple, as the people in the Straight Spouses Network say).

I've seen those kinds of couples a lot, and I've seen it lead to such heartache for all concerned, but particularly for the woman. Even if he can manage to live like that indefinitely, there really is something missing, I think. And so many men just can't do it forever. They can do it for years and years, but at some point it breaks down for them. Of course, as you point out, there are some people who make it work. I think - in both my X1 and X2 incarnations - Scott and Jean do make it work, for a long time, and they both get a lot out of it. But then they can't manage anymore. In the X1 line they manage to rebuild the friendship. I don't know if that will be possible in the X2 one, but in both cases, I think they would have been better off to have kept it as a very close friendship, without the attempt to be sexual/romantic partners.

I know - you'll just tell me that monogamy is the problem. But I do think sexually exclusive relationships are best for a lot of people, and for serious reasons, real reasons, not just "that's the way it's done." I'm also not sure that loving a man who's having sex with other men on the side is better than loving a man who isn't, but wants to.

My X1 Jean got deceived - she didn't know Scott was gay. With my X2 fiction they have a much more honest relationship and she knows what she's getting into to some extent. They're both trying for something that they don't know whether it will work or not. I don't know if that's better or worse. I do think that coming back from the dead to find out the man you love is really gay after all can't be fun. Even more painful if you find out he's involved with the guy you thought was waiting in the wings for you if it didn't work out with him.

On a totally different subject - when do I get to see chapter two of your new opus?